[2015] What Did You Do To/with Your Z Today?

[psdenno]

I would inspect your fuel line filter - see if you have any debris in there...........could be junk sticking your needle valves open.

Thanks for the tips.  New fuel filter, but I'm sure there's crud in the gas tank.  On the rear float bowl valve, I sprayed carb cleaner through it and also checked to see if it was closing tight enough to stop gas flow.  Passed.  I may tear into it later today, again.

Dennis

[psdenno]

This is in fact common. I have worked with British and Datsun SU's just about my whole life.

Over time floats will slowly absorb fuel making them heavy. They begin to not fully shut off the

needle valves. This makes tuning a SU correctly impossible. Once they become too heavy they

just sink and do not shut the valve off at all. Nobody ever checks their floats. You can feel

how heavy they are by removing them.

Thanks for the insight.  When checking the rear float bowl last week, that was one of the things I anticipated as a cause.  I checked the float and it appeared to be good, not heavy, not cracked, no holes, no indication of holding fuel.  Haven't checked the front float, yet.

Dennis 

[oranngetang]

I bought some 15x7 Konigs with hankook 205/50-15 that are fantastic on my 240. No rubbing and leaves the car lower to the ground.

 

15's wouldn't fit my car unless they had a +25mm offset. I ended up with a set of 17x8.5-0 RKR-F's... Will see my options work out with tires now.

 

Today, pulling fuel tank to see why it's dripping, mocking up new rims with fake rubber to get a width/profile idea, replacing motor mounts and tranni mounts, inspecting what has come loose in the rear to cause clunking on corners not under load. Diff is solid (welded), so the binding on corners is knocking something.... feels like the diff mount, but I'm solid mounted via an RT... so... will see!

[oranngetang]

Hairline crack of some sort I couldn't even see, but could see fuel sweat through at the soldered bung on the DS vent line. Cleaned, and used JB Waterwelb putty, painted, re-installed and filled. No leaks as of yet. I did some youtubing/forum hunting prior to deciding on that product/method. All reviews and experiences basically stated the patch has never become an issue or since leaked.

 

The lock-ring seal on sender unit also seems to be collecting dust, so I've ordered a new one of them. I don't think it would ever leak enough to get a drip out of it, but whatever.

 

Clunking is coming from the two studs that secure the diff cover to the mustache bar. Either it's pounded them out, or the hole is too large. I tightened the studs/nuts as much as i could and let the car run in 1st on jackstands at a low idle, enough for the engine to kick once in a while and it's clear this is a shitty design. I may need to 'sleeve' those mounting holes OR weld a beefier plate over top at the proper diameter. The RT mount looks fine, minor movement on the bushing, I can't get a wrench on that bolt, but the split washer feels flat... Probably as tight as it'll sit.

 

The front ujoint on the drive shaft has a little slop also... I'm also thinking the shaft should be an inch longer, so I might end up with a new driveshaft here soon. Replaced the tranni mount, didn't touch the engine mounts as only one was in the box... Will order another.

 

Mocked up the new wheels and i can easily fit a 235-245 on the rear without rolling. The fronts look like a gamble for tire diamter though. Full lock will put the tire into the frame rail, but more realisticlly, I'm not sure how a tire that isn't fairly stretched will clear the front airdam/lower fender without a reasonable gap between the top of tire and fender. Either I need to aim for a ~24" tire or keep a raised stance... Found a loose tie-end end under there... whoops! Must have missed that wire tie.

 

Any insight on that? If anyone has a photo of a non-flared Z on 17s, on a 24" to 25.3" tire, let me have em!!!

 

I'm favoring a 235/45R17 right now as I can grab four for under $300 bucks on a clearance sale. Otherwise I'm open to any size, as long as I retain a usable sidewall for ROADS.

[inmocean]

Drove the Z to dinner last night. Started right up. Hasn't moved since November. Looking forward to spring.

[240260280z]

Ordered main bearings, rod bearings, front and rear seals, freeze caps for a new motor build... finally some work on old blue after 8 years!

[siteunseen]

So I'm going to meet "old blue" too?  Can hardly wait. 

 

If I can't get my 240 broken in to my liking I'll be in my '77 also.

[Walter Moore]

Last weekend I rebuilt the rear brakes on the 240Z. A couple of years ago the handbrake cable stuck on the driver's side and I was concerned that it had eaten the drum. I couldn't get the drum to slide off easily, so I assumed that the shoes had worn the braking surface down. I replaced the handbrake cable last winter, but could never get it adjusted tight enough to hold very well. I waited until this winter to work on it because I wanted to buy a new aluminum drum.

 

When I got the drum off I could see that the drum just had a very small ridge on the inside edge, 1mm at most. The true root cause of the trouble was that with the handbrake cable stuck for a couple of years, the pads had worn down on that side, but the brake adjuster didn't compensate for the wear.

(On the early car the FSM states that the brake adjuster is actuated primarily by the handbrake, which mirrors my experience.)

 

So I took the ridge off with sandpaper. (It wasn't on the braking surface.) Then I installed new shoes and adjusted the brakes tight. A slight hand brake cable adjustment, and everything works great. I even drove it to the Indy Z car club meeting on Thursday.

 

Today I changed the oil. Once it gets warm I will adjust the SUs. For now it runs OK, and there is no point in messing with them until the weather is warmer, because if I set them now the car will run rich in the summer.

 

Also over the winter I installed a new volt meter and a fuel pressure meter. (Both AutoMeter brand stepper style units.) I have had ongoing issues with the electric fuel pump. Last fall the car stalled on a club cruse, and I had to bypass the oil pressure safety switch to get home. I replaced that switch, and added a light on the dash to show if the electric pump has electrical power. The upgrades will not prevent the issue, but they will help to diagnose any future problems I may have.

[gnosez]

 Put new thrust bearing and washers in the front coil-over struts and re-installed the struts with new hardware. Wire brushed the front S12W calipers and painted them. Modified a hood release cable to turn off the Electrical switch while strapped in. Two trips to the hardware store. Greased the half shafts, screwed around with the gun and threw the cheap grease gun out.

[nix240z]

installed new front end.

New coilovers, Tokico Illuminas, R1 Concepts rotors, bearings, seals,  calipers, Arizona Z car suspension, tie rods, 555 ball joints  and plated all the hardware.

 

 

 

 

[Diseazd]

That's just beautiful nix........really cool. Will woods???

[HuD 91gt]

Cleaned and rebuilt my first set of carbs.  Today we see if I did it correctly and I get to start it up.  With the new MSA premium exhaust on stock manifold!

 

 

Edited March 15, 2015 by HuD 91gt